Rating: 
Summary: good cops, bad cops and misbehavior in L.A.
Review: I picked up L.A. Requiem, like so many people, at any airport before boarding a flight. Although the amazon.com reviews were favorable I feared somewhat that this would be one of the many vaguely competent yet forgettable popular crime novels. So how did the book measure up? Thankfully, rather well.The story is about serial killings in LA-LA land, with a pair of private investigators out to solve these murders. Things get very sticky when one of these investigators, a former cop, is implicated. Crais does a fine job in delivering a fast pace, complete with rather unpredictable story. It is certainly a page-turner. However the story has a somewhat familiar feel, resembling more a movie script than literature. The characterizations are a bit two-dimensional, the prose is marginally adequate. While L.A. Requiem is certainly not a classic it certainly rises above the "forgettable" status. Bottom line: an enjoyable crime novel. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Crime Fiction at its Best
Review: "The devils take their toll, even in this angel town." So muses Elvis Cole, the hardboiled private detective protagonist near the end of this gritty and suspenceful crime drama. Unlike others in the Elvis Cole series, where partner Joe Pike is essentially a mysterious and menacing shadow, Crais skillfully weaves flashbacks into the plot, exposing Pike's dark and troubled past bit by disturbing bit. As in his previous works, Crais' characters are vividly developed and, if not completely believable, they are compelling and certainly entertaining. Nobody does LA better than Robert Crais, and I'm beginning to believe no contemporary writer does noir crime as well, either. The plot is simple enough: Cole and Pike are called on by the wealthy and well-connected father of a murdured Latino girl to assist LAPD in finding the killer. Predictably, tensions arise as the cops don't welcome the outside interference. This tension is only heightened by a troubled history Pike shares with the force, which slowly unfolds as the plot progresses. This is an ambitious book with strong moral undertones, complex emotions, and raw physical violence. It is not an easy book to put down, nor will it be quickly forgotten. Don't let this one get away.
Rating:
Summary: The Spreading of Hands
Review: I enjoy reading the novels of Robert Crais. L.A. Requiem is a little bit darker and more disturbing but it is still a very good story. You will learn about the past of Joe Pike and you will understand why he behaves like he has been in the previous novels. My pet peeve is Crais' overuse (in all off his novels) of the action of spreading the hands. "He spread his hands." "She spread her hands." "I spread my hands." Over and over, sometimes twice on a single page. If find myself watching for the expression then cringe when it appears. I only hope his newest Elvis Cole novel (which I am looking forward to reading and is due out this summer) has cut back on the use of this action.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD FOR COLE--BETTER FOR PIKE!!!
Review: If you have read any of these books before you know that Pike is the strong silent one. In this one we really get to see the inside of Pike and why he is like he is. Karen Garcia is killed and her father wants Pike and Cole to be in on the investigation. The police do not like this. They even hide some of the things they find out. Only one police person, Samantha Dolan, helps at all. In fact she falls for Cole. In working on this Cole finds out they have been five other murders. Do they link together? Why is police department keeping secrets? Will Cole and Pike live to fight again another day? This book will hold your attention. It shows how tough and how soft Cole can be. You will enjoy the tough silence of Pike. But when he springs you better watch out. Still wonder which is better, Pike or Hawk.
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: Elvis Cole and Joe Pike...you gotta love those guys. You don't read this series of books for the Steinbeck quality but you have to read these books. This is the 3rd in the Elvis Cole series I have read (or listened to on tape) as well as others by Mr. Crais and I am never disappointed. Elvis is sentimentally human and loyal to his friend to a fault and as emotionless as Pike is made out to seem he has a heart as big as Elvis. The links of the seemingly unrelated murders and the path we are led on through the lives of the characters and solution of the mystery provide the seamless can't put down quality of all of Robert Crais's books. I just wish some of these books would hit the big screen. I don't get into professional wrestling but when I imagine Joe Pike I can see The Rock behind those dark glasses with only the most subtle of facial movement betraying his every emotion. Give us more.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the other Cole novels but not great
Review: In L. A. REQUIEM Elvis Cole is plays second fiddle to partner, Joe Pike. Crais uses this novel to add character dimension to Pike. In Crais' previous novels Pike is always mysterious. He does not need to talk since he prefers to let his actions speak for him. When he speaks it is because he has something important to say. We get to know a lot more about Pike in this book including why do the police hate him as well as his past. One gets to see a more human side to Joe than in any other novel he has appeared. A serial killer is picking victims out of Pike's past and later, framing Joe in a murder. Elvis does his best to investigate at the risk of losing his P. I. license, his life and his girlfriend. I found this novel to be better than the previous Elvis Cole novels but I felt that I read something similar in the past. The reason for the killer's hate toward Pike seemed to me a bit cliché but it work with the story.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Hype
Review: I started with Robert Crais's first Elvis Cole book, The Monkey's Raincoat, and frankly after reading Robert B. Parker's Spenser and a few others, I didn't think much of it. Usually I give a writer a second chance, so I withheld judgement for a while. Later on I heard much ado about LA Requiem and decided to skip the second book. Was I glad I did, because it was that good, so good it makes me want to read the 2nd thru seventh books, even if they're aren't quite up to par. But my rating is as individual as the readers are, so like many critiques, this is one you may choose to disagree with. I loved it, I gave it five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Best Elvis Cole to date
Review: "L.A. Requiem" is, without doubt, the finest Elvis Cole novel in the series to date. Larger in scope and in depth than previous Cole novels, "L.A. Requiem" provides the characters with backgrounds and histories. This is information fans have been waiting for, especially in the case of Cole's partner, Joe Pike. Readers new to the team of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike would do well to start at the beginning of this fine series with "The Monkey's Raincoat." Watching character development throughout the series is all part of the fun, and adds to the experience of "L.A. Requiem." To give away too much of the plot would be a crime. Suffice to say that this story is much more deep, broad, complex, and noir than any of the previous novels. It's one that will grab you from the start, and keep you turning pages until all hours of the night. When you finish the book, you'll still want more.
Rating:
Summary: Come Back to This One
Review: IF you have become a Crais fan, you've got to come back to this one to get to know Elvis' sidekick, Pike. In the tradition of Parker (early) and Block, Crais gives his characters some depth in addition to weaving a good mystery yarn. LARequiem develops Pike and gives us his life story while putting him into the spell-binding mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Elvis Has Entered the Written World
Review: This is one of the funniest, yet interesting novels that I have ever read. Elvis is a top notch P.I., and Crais writes a masterful novel.
| 
